Gear train for multicolor presses, including compensating devices



April 29, 1924. 1,492,452

T. s. FITCHETT ET AL GEAR TRAIN FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES INCLUDINGCOMPENSATING DEVICES Filed NOV. 10 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ap'ril 29 1924.

T. S. FITCHETT ET AL GEAR TRAIN FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES, INCLUDINGCOMPENSATING DEVICES Fiied Nov.

I I i l 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 fljbbornery A ril 29, 1924. 1,492,452

T. s. FITCHETT ET AL GEAR TRAIN FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES, INCLUDINGCOMPENSATINQ DEVICES Filed Nov. 10. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 April 29,1924. 1,492,452

T. s. FITCHETT ET AL GEAR TRAIN FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES, INCLUDINGCOMPENSATING DEVICES Filed Nov. 10. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Apr.29, 1924. I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS B. FITCHETT, OF GLENABH, AND JOBG-EN I. HAASE, OI TOWS ON,MARYLAND, ASSIGNORS TO F. x HOOPEB COMPANY, INC 0! GLENABH, MARYLAND, ACOB- PORATION OI MARYLAND.

GEAR TRAIN FO B MULTICOLOB PRESSES, INCLUDING COIPENSATING DEVICES.

Application fled November 10, 1921. Serial No. 514,157.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS S. FITCHE'I'I', a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Glenarm, and JoRcEN I. Hassn, a subject of the Kingof Denmark, residing at Towson, both in the county of Baltimore andState of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGear Trains for Multicolor Presses, Including Compensating Devices, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in multi-color printing premes ofthe type having printing cylinders arranged to make successiveimpressions on sheets of fibreboard, wood, or other like stock which aremoved along a stationary bed between the printing and impressioncylinders by pull rollers, the cylinders being'independently adjustablevertically to su1t the thickness of the stock. The invention relatesmore particularly to an arrangement of gearing for operating thecylinders, whereby the forms or printing surfaces on the cylinders arecaused to register with accuracy, and whereby the cylinders and pullrollers may be adjusted relatively to the bed Without disturbing theworking relations of the gears.

In carrying out the invention, we provide an endless gear train foroperating the printing cylinders, this train including the main ordriving gears on the cylinder shafts and also includin concentricallymounted gears which are a justable relatively to one another to take upthe slack in the train. Certain of the parts in the train are mounted infixed relation to the bed, While others are adjustable with the printingcylinders toward and from the bed, and we therefore provide in the traintwo intermediate floating gears, each of which adjusts itselfautomatically about the axis of one of the gears on the bed and aboutthe axis of one of the gears which is adjustable with the printingcylinders, whereby the close working relation of these gears ismaintained in all positions of the printing cylinders. As the verticaladjustment of one printing cylinder relatively to the other, after theslack in the train has been taken out, would tend to exert a bindingforce on the gears in part of the train, we provide a sprmg compensatingdevice which automatically introduces the necessary amount of slack inthis part of the train to prevent binding and takes up this slack whenthe printing cylinders are restored to their original relativepositions. The invention also includes improved means for mounting thepull rollers and certain details of construction which will behereinafter pointed out.

In the accompanying drawing,

Flg. 1 is a side elevation of part of a press having our improvementsthereon;

Fig. 1 is a detail view, showing the adjustable mounting of one of thegears;

Fig. 2 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, taken from the opposite side of thepress;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the devices for takingup the slack in the gear train;

Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the springs and its seats, assembled asa unit;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

F Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of ig. 6 is a section on the line6-6 of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the arrangement of the gearsin the gear train.

Referring to the drawing, a represents the bed of the pram, and b and bare two printing or form 0 linders carrying forms for printing in dierent colors upon sheets of wood, fibreboard, or like stock, which aremoved along the bed beneath the cylinders, from left to right in Fig. 1,by pull rollers c, d, and e. The shaft 1 of the cylinder 6 is journaledin bearings 2, which are mounted upon vertically adjustable frames f,arranged at opposite sides of the bed. These frames are alike, eachcomprising parallel rods 3, which are movable vertically in brackets 4and 5, and crossheads 6 and 7 which are secured to the upper and lowerends of the rods, respectively. The bearings 2 rest upon the cross-heads6 and the latter have extensions or brackets 6 which support the pullrollers o. A shaft 8, which carries the pull rollers c, is journaled inhorizontal links 9, pivoted at 10 to the brackets, the free ends of thelinks being pivotally connected to rods 11, which extend verticallythrough bearings 12 on the brackets. Springs 13, coiled about the rodsand interposed between thebearings 12 and adjustable nuts 14 on therods, serve to apply tension in a downward direction to the pull rollersto cause the latter to grip the stock which is fed by the rollers to theprinting cylinders. The pull rollers are adjustable toward and from thebed with the printing cylinders by raising and lowering the frames f,and they are urther adjustable relative to the bed by turning the locknuts 15, which serve as stops for limiting the downward movement of thepull rollers. The frames 7, at the opposite sides of the printingcylinder 6, are simultaneously adjustable by means of a hand wheel 16upon a worm shaft 17 journaled in the lower cross-heads 7 and havingworms thereon which engage worm wheels 18 on vertically arranged screwshafts 19, which latter shafts extend through bearings in thecross-heads 7 and engage internally threaded bosses 20 on the sides ofthe bed frame. It will be evident that by turning the hand wheel in onedirection or the other, the'printing cylinder 6 and pull rollers a willbe raised or lowered with respect to the bed.

The shaft 1 of the printing cylinder 6' is mounted upon two frames 9,which are the same as the frames f and similarly adjustable. The uppercross-heads 21 of the frames 9 have oppositely extending brackets 21 and21 on which pull rollers d and e are supported in the same manner as thea pull rollers c are supported on the brackets 6*. The frames 9 arevertically adjustable by means of a hand wheel 22, upon a worm shaft 23which operates worm gears 24 upon vertically arranged adjusting screws25, mounted in the same way as the screws 19, associated with the framesf. One of the brackets 21 (Fig. 2) has an upward extension on which issupported a gear 37.

The printing cylinders are driven in unison by an endless train ofgearing. Some of the gears in the endless train are mounted in fixedrelation to the bed, while others are adjustable with the printingcylinders, and we therefore provide in the train certain gears,intermediate the gears on the bed and those adjustable with thecylinders, having floating bearings which cause the gears to remain inmesh in any position of adjustment of the printing cylinders. As shownin the drawing, 26 represents a count-ershaft upon which is mounted agear 27, which drives the endless gear train. This driving ear mesheswith a gear 28, (Fi s. 1 and 7% which ma for convenience, considered theinitial ear of the train, although the driving force may be applied toany other convenient gear in the train. The gear 28 is looselymounted'upon one of the impression roller shafts s, and engages a gear29, and the latter drives the intermeshing gears 30, 31 and 32. The lastmentioned gear is adjustably secured by bolts 32 to a hub 32 on theother impression roller shafts s, and, at the opposite side of themachine (Fig. 2) this shaft carries a gear 33 which meshes with a gear34 and the latter drives gear 35 which engages a main gear 36 on theshaft 1 of the cylinder 6. This main gear meshes with an idle gear 37,journaled on the bracket 21*, and the latter meshes with a main gear 38on the shaft 1 of the cylinder b. A gear 39, which meshes with the gear38, also meshes with a gear 40 which, in turn, meshes with a gear 41which is fixed to the shaft 8 on which the initial loose gear 28 ismounted. It will be apparent by an inspection of Fig. 7 that the trainof gear- 7 ing described is endless.

The gears 28 to 33, inclusive, and the gear 41 are mounted in fixedrelation to thebed frame of the press while the gears or pinions35 and39, which engage the gears on the printing cylinders are journaled onstuds sleeved upon the bearing 43 of the shaft 8, and a link 44 isconnected between the shaft 42 and a stud 45 upon which the gear 39 ismounted. With this arrangement, it will be evident that when theprinting cylinder b and the gears 38 and 39 are adjusted vertically, thegear 40 will swing about the axis of the gear 41 and also about the axisof the gear 39 and will remain in mesh with both of said gears. The gear34 is mounted in the same way as the gear 40 so as to swing about theaxes of the gears 33 and 35 when the cylinder 1) and the gears 36 and 35are adjusted vertically.

. With the endless train of gearing shown, assuming the gear 41 (Fig. 7)to be held stationary, all of the slack in that part of the trainbetween said gear and the gear 33 may be taken up by adjusting thesegears in the direction of the arrows, and all of the slack in thebalance of the train between the gears 32 and 28 may be taken up byadjusting these latter gears in a direction opposite to that of thearrows. 28 were then secured to their respective shafts, the entiretrain, including the gears on the printing cylinders, would run with'out appreciable slack or back lash, providing no adjustment of either ofthe printing cyl- 42, which is secured in one endof a link 43,

If the gears 32 and V inders were made. However, it is necessary attimes to adjust one of the printing cylinders relatively to the other,and this causes a binding action in a part of the train unless someprovision is made for introducing automatically a certain amount ofslack in that art of the train. Thus, for instance, i? the cylinder b,which carries the gear 36 (Fig. 7 is moved upwardly, while t e gear '38on the cylinder 5 remains in 1ts previous position of adjustment, thisupward movement of the gear 36 would tend to turn the idle car 37 andthe successive gears 38, 39, etc. in the train backward and cause thesegears to bind; A downward adjustment of the cylinder carrying the gear38 relatively to the cylinder carrying the gear 36 would tend to reversethe direction of movement of the gears 37, 36, 35, etc. and cause thesegears to bind.

In order to permit of the vertical adjustment of the printing cylindersrelatively to one another without causing the gears to bind, we providea spring compensating device which automatically introduces sufiicientslack in the train to prevent the gears from binding when one cylinderis adjusted relativel to the other and which removes the slack as thecylinders are restored to their original relative positions. Thiscomensating device also takes up any slack sue to wear and keeps thegears 1n close mesh at all times. As shown in the drawing, the gear 28,which is loosely mounted on the shaft .9, is provided with laterallyprojecting arms or brackets 46, extending at opposite sides of its axis,and upon the shaft is keyed a bracket 47, having arms 47, at oppositesides of the shaft, the ends of these arms being opposed to the lugs orbrackets on the gear 28. Between the arms 47 on the shaft and thebrackets on the gear are interposed helical compression springs 49 whichtend to force the gear 28 in one direction and the gear 41, which iskeyed to the shaft 8, in the opposite direction. With this arrangement,assuming the driving force to be applied to the gear 28, in thedirection of the arrow, Fig. 7, the driving force will be applieddirectly to the gear 29 and thence onward through the gears 30, 31, etc.of the train, and it will also be applied yieldingly to the gear 41 andthence backward through the train. If the cylinder carrying the gear 36should now be raised, which action would tend to cause the gears 37 to41 to bind, the yielding connection between the gear 41 and the gear 28will allow the gear 41 to advance with respect to the gear 28, and thesubsequent gears 40, 39, 38 and 37 will also be allowed to advancesufiiciently to operate without binding. Upon the return of the cylinderto its original position the compensating device will automaticallyremove the slack from the train. If the cylinder carrying the gear 38 islowered with respect to the companion cylinder, the tendency of thegears 37, 36, 35, etc. in the train to bind will be relieved at thespring compensating device which will allow relative movement of thegears 28 and 41, and thus the neces sary slack will be introduced toprevent the gears in this part of the train from binding. Thecompensating device will take up the slack as the cylinder is restoredto its original position;

Thedetails of the spring compensating device are shown in Figs. 3 and 3.In-

these figures, each spring is shown compressed between two spring seats48 and 50. The seat 48 has a tubular stem 48 which is externallythreaded and adapted to fit into a threaded opening in one of the arms47*, while the seat 50 is adapted to fit into a socket 50 in one of thebrackets 46. A. threaded rod 51 extends through the seat 50, the spring49 and the tubular stem of the seat 48. By applying nuts 52 to the rod51 and tightening these nuts against the end of the tubular stem, thespring seatsmay be drawn toward one another as shown in Fig. 3, so thatthe seats and spring may be readily assembled between the arms 47 andbrackets 46. In applying the assembled units to the brackets, the stemsof the seats 48 are threaded into the openings in the arms 47 and thenuts 52 are then removed and the seats 50 are pressed by the springsinto the sockets 50*. The rods 51 serve no purpose after the parts havebeen assembled in the machine and are used only as a means for drawingthe seats together, for convenience in assembling or removing them fromthe brackets and as a means for holding the seats and springs togetheras a unit when removed from the machine.

While we have referred to the driving force for the gear train as beingapplied initially to the gear 28, by the driving gear 27, the drivingforce may be applied to any other suitable gear in the train, such asthe gears 29 or 31, without affecting the action of the compensatingmeans. While the compensating means illustrated and described isparticularly useful in connection with endless gear drives for thecylinders of multicolor presses, it will be evident that thecompensating means in an endless gear train may be used for otherpurposes.

The pull rollers c on the shaft 8 are operated by a gear 53 on saidshaft which meshes with gear 39 of the gear train. The pull rollers d onthe shaft 54 are operated by a gear 55, which meshes with a gear 56driven by the main gear 36, and the pull rollers e on a shaft 57 aredriven by a gear 58, which'meshes with the gear 35 in the gear train.The stock to be printed upon is carried along the bed, between theprinting cylinders and impression rollers, by these pull rollers whichbear frictionally upon it,

and the pressure of the ull rollers upon the stock may be varied yadjusting the tension of the springs on the rods 11. These ull rollersand their driving gears are adustable vertically with the cylinderframes to suit the thickness. of the stock to be printed upon. i

What we claim is:

1. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with two printingcylinders of an endless gear train for operating said cylinders inunison, said train including main gears on the cylinders and twoconcentrically mounted gears, said latter gears being relativelyadjustable about their common axis to take up the slack in the geartrain.

2. In a multi-color printing press, two printing cylinders and means foradjusting the same vertically relatively to one another, an endless geartrain for driving said cylinders including gears on the cylinders,

and a yielding driving connection between two successive gears in thetrain.

3. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with two printingcylinders, of an endless gear train for operating said cylinders inunison, said train including main gears on the cylinders, twoconcentrically mounted gears, and a spring driving connection betweensaid latter gears.

4. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with two printingcylinders of an endless gear train for operating said cylinders inunison, said train inclu'ding main gears on the cylinders, a shaft,tight and loose gears on the shaft, arms on the latter gear and shaft,and a spring driving connection interposed between said arms.

5. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with two printingcylinders of an endless gear train for operating said cylinders inunison, said train including main gears on the cylinders, a shaft, tightand loose on the shaft, arms on the latter gear and shaft, a springdriving connection interposed between said arms, and means for adjustingthe tension of said spring.

6. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with two printingcylinders of an endless gear train for operating said cylinders inunison, said train including main gears on the cylinders, a shaft, tightand loose gears on said shaft, arms pro jecting from the latter-gear andshaft, a spring seat having a stem threaded into the arm on the shaft,and a spring interposed between said seat and the arm on the loose gear.

7. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with two printingcylinders, of an endles gear train for operating said cylinders inunison, said train including main gears on the cylinders, a shaft, tightand loose gears on said shaft, opposing arms on the latter gear andshaft, and a yielding pair of opposing arms on the shaft, and

springs interposed between said pairs of arms.

9. The combination with a machine and an endless gear train for drivingthe same, including two concentrically mounted gears, of a springdriving connection between said latter gears.

10. The combination with a machine and an endless gear train for drivingthe same, including two concentrically mounted gears, of a removablespring driving connection between said latter gears comprising twospring seats, a spring between said seats, and a rod connected to oneseat and passin through the other, said rod having a threa ed endadapted to receive a nut.

11. The combination with a machine, of an endless gear train for drivingthe same comprising two concentrically mounted gears, means foradjusting said gears angularly with respect to one another topreliminarily take up the slack in the train, two concentrically mountedgears, one rotatable with respect to the other, and a spring drivingconnection between said latter gears adapted to 'keep the slack out ofthe train under working conditions.

12. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with a bed, printincylinders and means for adjusting said cy inders vertically with respectto the bed, of an endless train of gearing for operating said cylinderscomprising main gears on the cylinder shafts, pinions engaging said maingears and ad ustable with the cylinders, gears mounted in fixed relationto the bed, and floating gears intermediate said latter gears andpinions, each floating gear being adjustable about the axes of the twogears with which it meshes.

13. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with a bed, twoprinting cylinders arrangedover the bed, means for adjustingsaidcylinders vertically and an endless gear train for operating thecylinders including gears on the cylinder shafts, of pull rollers,adjustable with the cylinders and geared to said train.

14:. In a multi-color press, the combination with a bed, two printingcylinders ar- Ill) ranged over the bed, means for adjusting saidcylinders vertically and an endless eartrain for operatin the e lindersinclu ing gears on the cylin er sha ts, of pull rollers, adjustable withthe cylinders and geared to said train, and means for adjusting saidpull rollers relatively to the cylinders and bed.

15. In a multi-color printing press, the combination with two rintingcylinders, vertically adjustable ames v supporting said cylinders, gearson the cylinder shafts and pinions ad ustable with the frames for saidlinks and geared to said pinions, vertically movable rods supported bysaid frames and supporting the free ends of the links, and springs forapplying downward pressure to the pull rollers.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

JOB-GEN I. HAASE. THOMAS S. FITOHETT.

